Surat Municipal Corporation to inaugurate rooftop solar plant

According to reports, with the installation of the rooftop solar power plant at the Science Centre in City Light nearing completion, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is planning to inaugurate during the upcoming visit of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the city next week.

Official sources said the civic body has installed rooftop solar power plant at the cost of Rs 91.80 lakh at the Science Centre for generating 100 kilowatts solar energy. A private agency has been hired for the installation of the first the solar power plant.

The civic body plans to meeting at least 15-30 per cent of its energy requirement from renewable which including solar and wind. It is already having a 3MW wind plant installed at Porbander and has decided to extend it by calling tenders for 8.4MW wind power station at the cost of Rs 63 crore.

Sources said the power produced will be sold to Torrent Power and that the sum generated will be credit to its power bills.

Initially, the civic body was planning for 50 and 25 KW rooftop solar plants, but since it was to be connected to grid, hence 100KW single plant was found more viable. It was concluded that with the increasing heat levels, solar panels will prove to be beneficial deal for the civic body in the long run. om the last one year the civic body has been mooting the installation of Solar panels for its vital and important buildings.

“The solar power plant atop Science Centre is expected to generate about 1.14 lakh kilowatts solar power per annum worth Rs 17.03 lakh. The solar power will be transferred in the grid and that the sum generated will be credited to the civic body’s annual power bill” said Jatin Shah, city engineer.